From International Best
Selling Romance Novelist, Hope Hughes, comes a gripping, heartfelt tale of two
lovers, fighting for the freedom to…

No. Scratch that. Too cheesy.

…two people, torn apart by
the tumultuous tides of life, only to discover refuge in…

WTF? What does that even mean? DELETE.

…two people, confused as
shit as to where they should be and who they should love and none of this means
a damn thing because it’s all lies!

Lies.

I’m not Hope Hughes. I’m not some fierce woman romance
machine. Hell, I’m not even a woman.

I’m a liar.

And while I refuse to believe my own BS, deceit masked in
heartfelt phrases of love and devotion, I want to make her believe them. Because maybe—just maybe—if she can find the soul
within my words, she’ll also be able to find the truth scribbled on my heart.

You see, I once lived for the perfect plot twist.

I just never expected to actually live it.

This is my story. Well, maybe her story. I just wish I
could make it our story.

The one I’m still writing.

Excerpt

“Yeah, but…” Her eyes grow wide and glossy as she tries to
sift through all the reasons why that theory shouldn’t apply to her. In the
end, she relies on her heart. “You said I wasn’t like those other women…that
those other women weren’t me.”

I should tell her she’s right. I should put her out of her
misery and reassure her that the last ten years were as real and meaningful to
me as they were for her. That even though I may sling gift-wrapped bullshit for
the general public, only she knows the true, honest parts of my heart. But with
my tongue possessed by the taste of her rejection, I play the petty card, and
do just the opposite.

“I guess I was wrong, especially considering yesterday’s
events. Maybe you’re no different from them. And maybe you were right about
me…that I do sabotage with sex to keep people at arm’s length. Because in the
end, that’s all I want anyway, right?”

“You don’t mean that.”

I nod. “Yeah. I do.”

“So what are you saying?” The hurt is so thick in her
throat that I can barely hear the words.

I suck in a breath, and scrub a hand over my forehead.
“You were right about me. About us.
We shouldn’t have done…what we did. And we can’t move on and pretend that it
didn’t change us. What’s done is done.”

“I agree,” she nods, with a tinge of hope in her voice.

“So, maybe we should just see this for what it is—the end.
You’re starting your life with Joshua and moving away, and I’m going on with
mine.”

“Wait, August. No, that’s not—”

“You didn’t actually think we’d be able to keep this up,
did you? What, you thought we’d turn out to be the modern day Cathy and
Heathcliff? I’m not some swoony,
literary hero, Fi. I’m not here to rescue you from your shitty love life that
stems from your shitty childhood.”

“I never said you were—”

I’m rambling, spewing verbal diarrhea all over her blue
cashmere, but I can’t stop. I can’t shut off the bile that has been choking me
since this morning when she disclosed her impending nuptials.

“You have Joshua.
He’s the one you chose. He’s the one you want. You made that perfectly clear.
So what the fuck do you need with me?”

“I thought we were friends, August. I thought you and me
were—”

“Well, I guess you were wrong. Friends don’t fuck each
other and then five minutes later get engaged. And why would you want to be
friends with some empty, misogynistic prick like me anyway?”

“I-I didn’t mean,” her voice cracks, and the first tear
escapes. She quickly dashes it away, refusing to let me play witness to her
weakness. But I’ve already seen it. I share that very same weakness that has
her bottom lip trembling. I’m just too much of a coward to show it.

“Look, I’m sorry. I think we just need a break.”

“A break. Yes,” she nods, dashing away tears. “You’re
right. We both said things we shouldn’t have. Let’s just take a few days to…”

“No. A break from this,” I clarify, gesturing between us.
“From us. This isn’t working anymore.”

“You’re being melodramatic, August. We’ve had fights
before. We’ve said things we didn’t mean, and we always were able to work it
out.”

I shake my head and look away, refusing to acknowledge the
dejection on her face. “But I meant everything I said.”